The group Bermie ExPo, formerly known as the Bermuda Ex-Police Officers’ Association, has launched a new website.“The new website has been designed to provide former and retired members of the Bermuda Police Service with a means of keeping in touch with each other, to record their collective history, and to encourage former Bermuda police officers to write about their own personal experiences so they can be recorded for posterity,” said Roger Sherratt, a retired chief inspector who is president of the group.Mr Sherratt was born in England and joined the Bermuda Police Service in 1964. He worked in various departments and in the 1980s was made head of the newly formed Community Media Relations Department. Mr Sherratt retired in 1992.“We have literally hundreds of former and retired officers, both here in Bermuda and around the world, and we’ve been looking for ways to help all of us to keep in touch with each other,” he said. “Our website has been in the making for the past two years and we believe the wait has been well worthwhile because it’s been very well received by our members, some of whom we had completely lost contact with. We want the website to be inclusive for anyone who has served in the Bermuda Police, regardless of whether they are still here in Bermuda or have settled thousands of miles away.”The website has several special features.“[One section], ‘Then and Now’, is designed for former members to tell their own stories about life in the Bermuda Police and to provide us with photos where possible,” said Mr Sherratt. “We already have quite a few articles including one from our first Bermudian policewoman, former Inspector Jean Vickers, who has also written about her involvement with the Juvenile Liaison Scheme. There is also information from our oldest retired policeman, former Detective Inspector Milton Murray Marsh. Sadly, he passed away before Christmas, just two months short of his 103rd birthday. He had kindly agreed to be interviewed over a period of several months in 2010. Milton also provided us with access to some great photographs taken during his time as a detective.”Mr Marsh was born in Nevis in 1910 and came to Bermuda in 1930. He joined the Bermuda Police Service in 1941. In an article on the website, Mr Marsh recalled how as a young recruit he received “next to nil” in training. Equipment consisted of a worn out flashlight, a pair of handcuffs, and a truncheon. He worked out of Hamilton Police Station, which was then located on Parliament Street next to the Hamilton jail. He remembered that conditions in the Hamilton Police Station cells were “absolutely filthy”.“Other stories on the website include the reminiscences of former Sergeant Lynn Hall who was a founder member of both the police Outward Bound programme and the police choir, and the reminiscences of former Constable Ray Sousa who tells of the hardship of growing up as a young lad of Portuguese descent on 42nd Street,” said Mr Sherratt. “Ray was the person who came up with the idea of volunteer police officers running a pedal cycle gymkhana one of the most successful public relations events ever created by the police, and one that recently been revived by the Bermuda Police Service. Ray is now living in Australia but he has written a great article about the history of the pedal cycle gymkhana.”A ‘Hall of Fame’ section includes tributes to a number of deceased police officers including John Francis Mullan, William Maurice (Syke) Smith, and Richard Flood.“We hope that our website will be of interest to all former members of the Bermuda Police and their families,” said Mr Sherratt. “We want to encourage anyone who has served in the Bermuda Police to write their own reminiscences, and we are particularly keen to encourage the families of police officers who are no longer with us to conduct some research and provide us with a tribute to their loved ones. We are more than willing to assist, to point them in the right direction, and make available our collection of photographs which is rapidly increasing. One of the keys to the success of our website is the use of photos, and we are asking that former officers and their families search through their albums for photos they might wish to share with us.”For more information contact Mr Sherratt, 293-2316 or rogersherratt[AT]hotmail.com, or Dave Cook on 236-3115 or dcook[AT]transact.bm.Useful website: www.expobermuda.com.